Mission accomplie : the French team has secured their ticket for Euro 2024 by defeating the Netherlands 2-1 thanks to a double by their star Kylian Mbappé, who ended his goal drought at the perfect moment on Friday in Amsterdam.
One should never underestimate the captain of Les Bleus. Silent in his last four matches with PSG and ineffective in the national team since June 19th, the Bondy prodigy woke up just in time to propel his team to the final phase of the European Championship (June 14th – July 14th in Germany).
By scoring his 41st and 42nd goals on the international stage and surpassing the legendary Michel Platini (7th, 53rd), Mbappé once again became the savior, much to the delight of Didier Deschamps. With the Euro ticket in hand, the coach can now calmly focus on the major continental event and enjoy a peaceful end to the year, awaiting the tournament draw scheduled for December 2nd in Hamburg.
This success and qualification only crown an almost flawless year for “DD”, whose men have dominated their Group B with six victories and only one goal conceded so far, after the Dutch reduced the scoreline through Quilindschy Hartman (83rd minute). The only setback of 2023 was recorded in a friendly match against Germany last month (2-1), but this defeat, suffered with a heavily rotated team and without Mbappé, appears completely incidental considering the dominance of Les Bleus throughout this qualifying campaign.
Deschamps’ great merit has been to build on the magnificent performance of his team in the 2022 World Cup and to successfully regenerate his squad after the international retirements of several illustrious veterans (Hugo Lloris, Raphaël Varane, Karim Benzema, Steve Mandanda).
Facing such a machine, the Dutch, plagued by injuries and deprived of many key players (Sven Botman, Matthijs de Ligt, Frenkie de Jong, Memphis Depay, Cody Gakpo), could hardly compete.
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